Page 63 of Short Stack 3

“That’sbeautiful,” I breathe.

Cosmo stirs. His hair is damp and curling around his beautiful face, and his skin gleams as if he’s once more that beautiful, cold statue. Then he smiles, and the image fades, and he’s once again my beloved, who’s rooting through the empty picnic basket in the hope of finding something to eat. He produces a lone mince pie triumphantly. “Look what I found. Lovely jubbly.” He gazes longingly at it before looking over at Cyrus, who joined us a few minutes ago. The dog is watching him, and Cosmo sighs mournfully before tossing the mince pie to the dog.

“I don’t think dogs can eat mince pies,” I say in alarm, but he just pats my knee.

“Poor dogs to miss out on such lovely things. However, Cyrus has a constitution formed by magic, and so he can eat what he likes.”

“He’s not the only one.” He laughs, and I drop a kiss on his cheek. “I love you very much,” I say softly. “You’re the most important person in my world and always will be.”

He strokes my cheek, his face full of love and softness. “If I could, I would give you a palace of moonlight.”

He waves one hand, and I gape as bells chime. A palace appears in front of us, crystal white and coldly shining with halls of moonlight. Then he snaps his fingers, and it vanishes.

“But that is a cold palace and so would never suit such a warm and vital creature as you, my Barnaby.”

“I like the home we already have.” I snuggle into him, feeling his arm tighten around me. “So, it’s all gone now? All the Wishing Tree magic?”

“Yes,” he says a little sadly.

I stir and ask the question I’ve been dying to have answered since the tree appeared. “What did you wish for, Cosmo? You put a wish on the tree every day.”

He smiles at me, his green eyes looking silver in the moonlight. “I wished for us always to be together,” he says, the words sweet and solemn between us.

I kiss him and taste his sweetness on my tongue. He tastes of oranges and mince pies and a trace of the apple brandy he loves so much. Then I pull back. “Nothing else?”

He gazes at me as if I’m the most beautiful man he’s ever seen. It’s the way he always looks at me, and it’s heady stuff.

“What else could there be but this love?” he says simply, and I smile and cuddle closer to him. There’s a short pause before he speaks again. “And the monkey,” he says longingly. “I didsowish for him to be real. Do you think we could have kept him?”

I jerk as a bell sounds. It’s deeper than the sound of Cosmo’s magic, and on the breeze comes the sound of the Holly King’s laugh. There’s a flash, and we cover our eyes against the brightness. When I open my eyes, I see the monkey sitting before us on the path. It cocks its head and scratches its ear, mischief and mayhem written all over it.

“Oh, howwonderful,” Cosmo breathes. “Is this our Christmas gift?”

“Well, yours,” I say in a spirit of honesty.

“Is that not the best thing ever, Barnaby?”

“Lovely,” I say faintly as the monkey scampers towards Cyrus, who’s been lying quietly watching the fairies. The monkey chatters wildly, hugging him and pulling his ear, and the dog gives us a reproachful look before loping quickly off towards the house. The monkey immediately looks around for more mischief. “What will you call him?”

Cosmo gives this the usual amount of thought he dedicates to everything in life. No matter how small, everything is important to him. “I think Ian Beale,” he says judiciously. “After theEastEnderscharacter.”

I blink. “That’s… that’s lovely.” I glance over and wince. “Well, darling. Ian Beale is chasing the fairies.”

He looks over where the monkey is chasing some very indignant fairies. Even as we watch, he reaches for an orb. There’s a flurry of sparks and what sounds like an irate fairy screech, and the monkey scampers back to us.

“Is he not the mostamazingcreature, Barnaby?” Cosmo breathes as the monkey scuttles onto his shoulder and lovingly begins tugging at his hair and chattering in his ear.

“There’s only one amazing creature here,” I say softly. “And I’m looking at him. Happy Christmas, darling.”

Joe and Lachlan

Confetti Hearts

Hobbies

This short story is set a month after Joe and Lachlan got back together. It was originally written for my newsletter subscribers.

Lachlan

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